Exploration Map
Back To > Techniques For Players The Matrix of Foldit The exploration map shows the spread of probabilities of the energy levels of the protein being explored by the players. Its is the treasure map that the scientist use to help find the lowest minimum energy state. The chart is really upside down in that the lowest minimum is shown as the highest point score on the exploration map. In order to see all of the exploration map you need to be near the lead in a game, and therefor high up on the chart in order to see the top of each cone of white spots that are the highest points that a certain backbone shape will generate. Each cloud of probabilitiesof the arc points generated by that particular backbone stance. The exploration map shows where the pikes are located and which stances and scripts have climbed the highest. It is a visual Matrix of which players and stances are in the lead, This is just a generalization as there are always script breakthroughs, like when your blue dot takes off in a totally new direction climbing higher and higher above all the rest and you can see the tops of all the other white cloud tops of probabilities. Once you get to the top HIGEST SCORE in the game you can see everyone else's runs and the white arcs generated by the other running scripts. What I am saying here is that when you view the map in a static state the information is dead ink on paper, but when viewed live like in the Matrix (as in the Movie ) you can sometimes see changes in the force and position of the other player stances and try to lead the pack by changing scripts to pull your blue dot to the left (the hard way) or to the right (easier) and why is that? I believe the simpler more direct solutions lay closer to the left side of the chart, the starting stance, but not always. And the more confused solutions lay further to the right side of the chart. On the exploration, left means closer to initial state - no major change in shape, the further you go to the right the more different is the backbone shape. The vertical is your score and is mainly based on the sidechain scores. After running a script for a long time your blue ball begins to leave a green track of where it has been going up and down up and down, and it is these green tracks that create the white dots. You can see everyone else's green tracks as the white dots on the chart. Therefore the whitest dense tracks are the most popular backbone stances that have been run, not necessarily the best for a particular puzzle, but the most run tracks. therefor if you can tie a particular stance to a certain track or peak then you can sometimes judge how your stance might succeed. and therefor try changing your backbones position to a better position, directing your blue ball up past the other leaders to the top of the pack. Although the distance from native map the scientist use contains some of the same information, it is distinctly different from the xmap. The xmap shows how far your protein has drifted from the starting point of the puzzle. The more your protein changed from the starting position of the puzzle the further to the right it goes. In general, changing the backbone, which changes the shape of the protein, move you right and left on the xmap, depending on how different from the starting point you are. Maximizing the sidechaines mainly moves you up and down. Each backbone stance of the protein that the backbone assumes creates a new vertical line. The highest peeks above those lines indicate the shapes of the backbone that are presently scoring the highest. So if you can change your position on the chart, by changing the backbone, to be under the highest peek and then climb up, by maximizing the side chains etc, you can approach the leaders and hopefully pass them up. Also, depending on what type of puzzle and the starting point the most native form of the protein can lay anywhere on the chart, not necessarily on the left side of the xmap as stated before as.the left side is the starting position of the backbone. The exploration map is a complex scoring chart of a 3d solution projected onto a flat surface. Each puzzle draws a different x map. Different puzzles xmaps are as different as fingerprints. Tthe different scripts and puzzles all draw vertical lines with peeks. the peeks are the hiest scores that the different scripts climb to at that time. the red square is where the game starts. the blue box is where your current score is, the white squares are where every one has gone befor. the green boxes are where you and your team has gone befor. the boxes are like footprints in the snow as you climb the mountain towards the hiest scores. Frozen protiens draw a vertical line because the frozen backbone cant be changed. Some of the design the interface puzzles draw a number of discrete lines one for each small change in the designned backbone. Most puzzles draw many lines and peeks. Some puzzle scores and stances can be on the same vertical line as other solutions because they can overlap each other. Think of the exploration map as a flattened 3d plot of points squshed to 2d chart. So more then one solution can lay on the same vertical line. Back to > Techniques For Players